Wrench.



No. 806,703. I PATENTED DEC. 5, 1905.

' R. NOLEN & W. B. KNIGHT.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26. 1906.

lmmwm 1111 I510? v j i J 5 5 E N jl zz eiz za rs fizeflilz iem JfEZZyZZ' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROBERT NOLEN AND WILLIAM B. KNIGHT, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI; SAID KNIGHT ASSIGNOR OF HIS RIGHT-TO EDWARD BUTLER, JR.,

OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 5, 1905.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ROBERT NOLEN and WILLIAM B. KNIGHT, citizens of the United States, and residents of the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

Our invention relates to a wrench consisting of a shank-body having a fixed jaw at one end thereof and provided with ratchet-teeth,

a slide loosely fitted to said shank-body, a j aw carried by said slide, and a pair of springcon'trolled pawls pivoted to said slide and engaging the teeth of said shank-body in a manner to permit movement of the slide toward the fixed jaw and prevent retrograde movement of the slide when a nut or other object is gripped between the fixed jaw and the slide-carried jaw. j

The object of the invention is to so construct a wrench that the movable j aw may be instantly slid toward the fixed aw and also with the same facility retracted or slid in a direction away from the fixed jaw.

Figure I is a view, partly in elevation and partlyin longitudinal section, of our wrench. Fig. II is a front elevation of the wrench. lliig. I[II is a cross-section taken on line III III,

1 designates the shank-body of our wrench, which is provided at its front edge with a plurality of ratchet-teeth 2. At the forward end of the shank-body is a fixed jaw 3, which is preferably provided at its inner face with serrations 4.

5 designates a slide loosely fitted to the shank-body 1 and having its sides extended beyond the front edge of the shank-body. The sides of the slide are united at their forward ends by a tie piece 6 and at their rear ends by a tie-piece 7, these tie-pieces being separated to provide a space between them, through which access is gained to the ratchetteeth 2 of the shank-body.

8 designates a jaw carried by the slide 5 and preferably provided with serrations 9. The jaw 8 has its tail positioned between the sides of the slide 5, and it is swingingly connected to said slide by a pivot-pin 10, seated in the extended portion of the slide. This thereby limiting the degree of outward movement of the jaw. The working face of the jaw 8 opposes the working face of the fixed jaw 3-to provide for the gripping of a nut or other object between them, and by swingingly connecting the jaw 8 to the slide by which it is carried the wrench is rendered adaptable for gripping a polygonal object, such as a nut, or for gripping a round object, such as a pipe.

It is essential that when the wrench is used upon a round object the working face of one of the jaws of the Wrench occupy a difierent plane from the working face of the other jaw, and this is accomplished by the jaw 8 swinging out into the position seen in Fig. I, at which time the tail of said jaw is restricted from further movement by bearing at its rear end against the tie-piece 6, so that the grip secured upon the object to which the wrench is applied may be maintained.

1 3 designates a forward double-armed pawl rockingly mounted between the extended sides of the slide 5 upon a pivotpin 14, mounted in said sides. One arm of this pawl is inwardly presented to engage the ratchetteeth of the shank-body 1, and the other arm is outwardly presented. 15 isa spring secured to the inner arm of said pawl and having a free end resting against the slide tie-piece 6, the said spring serving to hold the inner pawl-arm in engagement with said ratchetteeth.

16 is a second double-armed pawl rockingly mounted between the extended sides of the slide 5, upon a pivot-pin 17, seated in said sides. This pawl has an inwardlyextending arm that engages the shank-body ratchetteeth 2, and it has an outwardly-extending lever-arm 18 of curved form, which bears against the outer arm of the pawl 13.

19 is a spring having one end fixed to the outer arm of the pawl 16 and having a free end extending into bearing with the outer arm of the pawl 13. This spring serves to maintain the inner arm of the pawl 16 in engagement with the ratchet-teeth 2.

20 designates a stop projecting from the front side of the shank-body 1 and against which the tie-piece 7 at the rear end of the slide 5 is adapted to strike when said slide is reciprocated rearwardly, thereby preventing the slide from being withdrawn from said shank-body.

When our wrench is to be applied to a nut or other object, if the slide 5 is sufficiently retracted to permit of the object entering between the jaws of the wrench, it is only necessary to reciprocate the slide toward the fixed jaw 3 to bring the jaw 8 to the object, during which action the pawls 13 and 16 ride freely over the shank-body ratchet-teeth 2. When the user of the wrench wishes to remove it from the object to which it has been applied, he places a finger upon the lever-arm 18 of the pawl 16 and by inward pressure thereon causes said pawl to be rocked to withdraw its inner arm from engagement with the ratchet-teeth 2. At the same time the leverarm of the pawl 16 presses inwardly upon the outer arm of the pawl 13 and withdraws its inner arm from the ratchet-teeth 2. The slide 5 is thereby freed and may be retracted to any desired degree. The same procedure is followed previous to the application of the wrench to a nut on which it is to be used if the space between the jaws is insufficient to permit the object to enter between them, after which the slide is moved forwardly, as before explained.

By the use of two pawls 13 and 16 we are enabled to secure a finer adjustment of the wrench-slide on the shank-body than it would be possible to secure by the use of a single awl. In this connection it is to be noted that the inner arms of the pawls are so disposed relative to the ratchet-teeth of the shankbody that only one of them will be positively seated against a ratchet-tooth at one time, while the other is in an advanced position on another ratchet-tooth. As a consequence it is unnecessary to move the wrench-slide forwardly the full length of a ratchettooth, but only a portion of a tooths length before it will become engaged with and seat positively against the forward side of the tooth on which it previously rode.

We claim as our invention 1. In a wrench, the combination of a shank-body having a fixed head and provided with ratchet teeth, a slide loosely mounted on said shank-body and projecting beyond the ratchet-face of the body, a jaw carried by said slide, a spring-controlled pawl pivotally mounted between the extensions of said slide sides, and having an arm engaging said ratchet-teeth, and a second spring-controlled pawl pivotally mounted between the extensions of said slide sides; said lastnamed pawl having an arm engaging said ratchet teeth and another arm bearing against said first-named pawl; substantially as set forth.

2. In a wrench, the combination of a shank-body provided with a jaw and having ratchet teeth at one side thereof, a slide loosely fitted to said shank-body and having its sides extended beyond the ratchet-face of said shank-body, a jaw carried by said slide, a spring-controlled pawl pivotally mounted between said slide sides and having an arm engaging said ratchet teeth and an outer arm; and a second spring-controlled pawl pivotally mounted between the sides of said slide and having an inner arm engaging said ratchet-teeth and an outer lever-arm bearing against the outer arm. of said first-named pawl, substantially as set forth.

3. In a wrench, the combination of a' shank-body provided with a jaw and having ratchet teeth at one side thereof, a slide loosely fitted to said shank-body and having its sides extended beyond the ratchet-face of said shank-body, a jaw carried by said slide, aspring-controlled pawl pivotally mounted between said slide sides and having an inner arm engaging said ratchet-teeth and an outer arm; a second pawl pivotally mounted between said slide sides and having an inner arm engaging said ratchet-teeth and an outer lever-arm bearing against the outer arm of said first-named pawl, and a spring fixed to said second pawl and having its free end bearing against the outer arm of said first-named pawl, substantially as set forth.

4. In a wrench, the combination of a shank-body provided with a jaw and having ratchet teeth at one side thereof, a slide loosely fitted to said shank-body and having its sides extended beyond the ratchet-face of said shank-body, a jaw carried by said slide, a tie-piece connecting the sides of said slide, a pivot-pin mounted in the sides of said slide, a pawl loosely mounted on said pin and having an inner arm engaging said ratchet-teeth and an outer arm, a spring having one end fixed to the inner arm of said pawl and having a free end bearing against said tie-piece; a second pivot-pin mounted in the sides of said slide, a second pawl loosely mounted on said last-named pivot-pin and having an inner arm engaging said ratchet-teeth and an outer lever-arm bearing against the outer arm of said first-named pawl, and a spring having one end fixed to the lever-arm of said lastnamed pawl and having a free end bearing against the outer arm of said first-named pawl, substantially as set forth.

ROBERT NOLEN. WM. B. KNIGHT. In presence of N ELLIE V. ALEXANDER. E. S. KNIGHT.

IIS 

